Sogin, CGN cooperate on waste management

12 June 2014

Italy is to share its experience in radioactive waste management and decommissioning of nuclear facilities with China through a cooperation agreement signed between Societa Gestione Impianti Nucleari (Sogin) and China General Nuclear (CGN).

The agreement was signed in Beijing yesterday by Sogin CEO Riccardo Casale and CGN general manager Zhang Ming Shan. Its signing was witnessed by Chinese premier premier Li Keqiang and Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi.

The agreement will see state-owned Sogin cooperate with CGN subsidiary China Nuclear Power Engineering Co (CNPEC) initially through a series of four projects, three in China and one in Italy.

The first project involves studying the costs and timing of decommissioning Chinese nuclear power plants, based on Italy's experience. In the second project, Sogin and CNPEC will participate in a project to remove parts from the nuclear fuel pool of a Chinese plant. The two companies will also cooperate in the development of policies and strategies for the management of radioactive waste and used fuel in China.

In the fourth project, Sogin and CNPEC will take part in a joint study in Italy of an innovative process for the minimization, treatment and conditioning of radioactive waste.

CGN currently has 11 nuclear power reactors in operation with a combined capacity of almost 10.9 GWe, accounting for 64% of China's installed nuclear capacity. In addition, it has 13 reactors under construction with a combined capacity of 15.5 GWe.

Italy operated a total of four nuclear power plants starting in the early 1960s but decided to phase out nuclear power in a referendum that followed the 1986 Chernobyl accident. It closed its last two operating plants, Caorso and Trino Vercellese, in 1990. Sogin was established in 1999 to take responsibility for decommissioning Italy's former nuclear power sites and locating a national waste store.